---
title: "Data lineage"
description: "The record of how data moved and changed through an organisation's pipelines."
canonical: https://aigovernanceengineer.com/glossary/data-lineage
author: "Jorge García Aibar"
license: "CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)"
doi: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22956197
version: "0.5.0"
updated: 2026-09-24
---

# Data lineage

The record of how data moved and changed through an organisation's pipelines. Backward lineage shows what fed a model; forward lineage shows which models used a dataset, which erasure requests and licence withdrawals need. OpenLineage is an open standard for emitting it [1].

- Developed in: [ch. 14, Provenance versus lineage](https://aigovernanceengineer.com/bok/governing-development#provenance-versus-lineage)
- Chapters: [ch. 14, Development](https://aigovernanceengineer.com/bok/governing-development)
- Contrast with: [Data provenance](https://aigovernanceengineer.com/glossary/data-provenance)
- In the glossary chapter: https://aigovernanceengineer.com/bok/glossary#t-data-lineage

## Commonly confused

- **Data provenance** vs **Data lineage**: Where the data came from and on what terms, against the path it took through your own pipelines Perfect lineage over unknown provenance is still ungoverned; erasure and disgorgement need both

## Sources

[1] OpenLineage: an open platform for collection and analysis of data lineage (standard API for lineage events over datasets, jobs and runs). OpenLineage project (The Linux Foundation). 2026. https://openlineage.io/ (verified: primary)